The Tears Behind Her Smiles
by LostAngel12.-'Anne
Summary: A revelation was made. Memories were remembered. Fears were awakened. Pasts were uncovered. Haruhi didn't know what to do. And along with all these, she started feeling something special for one of the hosts. And that is just the start of her problems.
1. Chapter 1

Hosting hours were over. Haruhi was sitting idly on the couch inside the Host Club room while answering her history homework. She heard the door open and saw Kyoya enter.

"It's already late, Haruhi." He said as he walked towards his chair and took his laptop.

"I'll go home after a few minutes. I'm almost done."

Kyoya looked outside the window and saw the sky begin to grow dark. "It's already late. Hurry up. I'll wait for you in the car." And with that, he left the room, leaving Haruhi alone.

"Thank you for the ride, sempai." Haruhi said as she got out of the limo.

"I'll see you tomorrow." Said Kyoya as the limo drove away from her apartment. She quickly got inside and started to prepare dinner when she noticed the note attached on the refrigerator. She read it:

Haruhi,

I'm going over to Misuzu-chan's tonight. He caught the flu and I'm going to help manage their pension while he's sick. Would it be ok for you to clean the cabinet in my room? It's dusty. Oh! And if you ever get scared of being alone, you can call Kyoya-kun and ask him to come over as long as the idiot blonde doesn't come with him.

Love,

Your Dad. :P

Haruhi heaved a sigh and started with the task given to her. She got the feather duster and made her way to her father's room.

"I'll finish cleaning while I'm waiting for the food to cook." She muttered and opened the cabinet. The sight that greeted her was that of dusty old boxes, randomly arranged in a disheveled manner. Since the boxes only contained some pictures and papers, Haruhi was able to get the boxes out and start cleaning. When she was finished, she started putting the boxes back, separating those which contain the papers from the pictures. She was about to put the last box of paper on the top portion of the cabinet when a folder fell from the box. She was going to put it back when she read the words on the folder; Fujioka Kotoko Murder Case.

"Murder? I thought mother died in a car crash?" She asked herself. Driven by curiosity and the need to understand her mother's death, she hastily put the last box in the cabinet and opened the folder. The first thing that caught her eyes was a picture of her mother, almost unrecognizable due to the blood staining her face. A kitchen knife was protruding from her chest and her hands were on the knife's handle, as if she committed suicide. Haruhi's vision began to blur as flickers of bloody pictures entered her mind.

_Haruhi._

"Who's there?" she said, looking around. Her head started to throb. She dropped the documents as she clutched her aching head.

_Haruhi._

"What's happening to me?" She asked as she felt tears stream down her face. She screamed due to the pain her head was causing her before she lost consciousness.

Mori heard a crash in the kitchen and he rushed towards the room. He saw his cousin, Hunny, looking at a broken plate near his feet. Instinctively, he carried his cousin away from the broken shards and started to clean it up so it would not cut anyone who would accidentally step on it.

"Ne, Takashi?" Hunny said as he put his head on top of Mori's.

"Hn?"

"That plate was the one Haru-chan gave me as a gift last Valentine's day. Takashi, I have a bad feeling about this." The small blonde said. He got off his silent cousin and opened the kitchen television. It was set on the news channel which was reporting on a fire in an apartment complex. Hunny felt the hair on his neck stand when he saw the burning apartment.

"Haruhi." He heard Mori said. He looked at his cousin and wore a worried expression but instantly changed it into a smile.

"She'll be alright. She's smart enough to-"

"The fire started in the apartment which is currently resided by the Fujiokas. The Okama was away while the high school student is currently trapped inside their apartment." The reporter said. Hunny's eyes bulged.

"I heard her scream and when I went to check if everything was okay, I saw their apartment on fire. I immediately called for help but the fire already trapped her inside when the firemen came." The landlady managed to say before she broke into a fit of sobs.

Hunny quickly stood up and dashed, together with Mori, to their garage where their driver was and ordered him to drive them to Kyoya's place. Since the driver saw that they were in a hurry, they reached their destination within 10 minutes. Hunny wasted no time and stormed inside the house, making his way towards Kyoya's room. When he went inside, he saw the host asleep on the bed. He proceeded to wake him up, even if eh knows Kyoya will be in a bad mood once awoken.

"Kyo-chan! Wake up! It's an emergency!" Hunny exclaimed.

The low-blood demon glared at Hunny when he woke up but the blonde boy just stared at him with teary eyes.

"What do you want at such an hour?" He said coldly.

"It's Haru-chan. Their apartment's on fire."

Haruhi slowly opened her eyes and the smell of antiseptics welcomed her nose. She groaned. She slowly sat up and saw that she was in a white hospital room. She felt a short pain on her right arm and saw that it was wrapped in a bandage.

"What happened?" she asked herself as she thought about what happened before she lost consciousness. The visions that she saw before she collapsed came back to her: three blonde men surrounding her mother, the man with the knife grabbing her shoulders, the other two holding her mother down.

_Haruhi, my daughter. Watch as I kill your mother before you._

Haruhi was hyperventilating when she felt two pairs of hands hold hers.

"Haruhi?" the twin Hitachiins asked the girl. They were surprised when she turned towards them, her eyes looked scared and were brimming with tears.

"Okaasan." Haruhi said before she clutched her head and pulled her knees towards her face. The twins looked at each other. They had never seen her act this way before. A very worried-looking Ranka rushed into the room and went near his daughter, followed by Kyoya, Tamaki, Mori and Hunny. Ranka pat her back as Kyoya looked at Haruhi's test results.

"It is said here that she is recovering her memories from amnesia 13 years ago. The amnesia was caused by a traumatic experience and something triggered her memory on the day of the fire. She got second-degree burns on her right arm, but no other damages were seen on her body." He put the test results on the bedside table and looked at Haruhi's injured arm.

Hearing other people inside the room, Haruhi brought her head up and looked at the newcomers. She stopped her gaze at Tamaki and Hunny.

"Daughter!" Tamaki exclaimed before he launched himself towards Haruhi to hug her. Petrified, the brunette let out a squeal and hurriedly got off the bed, losing her balance in the process. Kyoya, being the one nearest, caught her and helped her regain her footing. Haruhi clutched at Kyoya's hand and looked at Tamaki with a scared expression, which made the handsome lad look at her worriedly.

"Mother! It seems our daughter inhaled too much smoke! Look! She's scared of me!" Tamaki exclaimed as he cried waterfall tears. Hikaru and Kaoru went near Haruhi and dragged her away from Kyoya, sitting her down on a chair beside the window. Hunny went near Haruhi and took her hand.

"Ne, Haru-chan? Are you alright?" He said as he looked at her with worried eyes. She stared at him with the same look she gave Tamaki earlier. Seeing that he was scaring her, Hunny reluctantly let go of Haruhi's hand and was about to go back to Mori when he felt her grab hold of the side of his shirt. He looked at her and saw that the scared look on her face lessened.

"I'm…fine." She managed to say before he let go of his shirt. Content with her answer, Hunny bounded back to his cousin and got on his shoulders. He flashed a quick smile at Haruhi's direction, who returned it a bit hesitantly. The others were getting confused at her actions.

"Ne, Ranka-san-"

"Why is-"

"Haruhi scared-"

"of Tono-"

"and Hunny-senpai?" Hikaru and Kaoru asked simultaneously. Ranka looked at Haruhi and knew that she had regained some of her memories on _that _night. He sighed and looked at them.

"When Haruhi was 4, she and her mother often went to the park whenever Haruhi got a low score in her exam. They seldom do that because it was only a few times when Haruhi would get a low score. One day, when I was busy with work, Haruhi came home with a low score on her science exam. She was very upset so even if it was very late, Kotoko brought her to the park. They were about to go back when they met with three blonde men."

Haruhi shuddered as she recalled what her father had said so far.

"One of them held a knife. Kotoko knew that man and was too shocked that she didn't notice him grab Haruhi. The other two held her down as they killed her in front of Haruhi. When we found them, Haruhi was unconscious. The detectives were supposed to ask her questions but the doctors said that she had amnesia. Her brain locked up the memories that were too much for her to bear. We only got two things on the killer."

The room was silent as they waited for Ranka to continue, while Haruhi pieced together the visions she had when she woke up, but something was amiss. She couldn't understand what it was so she just dismissed it. She concentrated on what her father was about to say, and she looked at Tamaki when he said the two things.

"One, the killer was blonde. Two, he called Haruhi his daughter."


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you for the reviews. And to answer one question, Haruhi was smart so she got into kindergarten at an early age. Haruhi considers their activities as exams. And she considers a small check mark as a low grade, while a big check mark as a high grade. :) Hope this has answered your question.**

**I do not own OHSHC.**

* * *

><p>Haruhi was sitting quietly in class, studying the lessons she missed when she was confined in the hospital for 2 days. She was supposed to stay there for 5 days but she managed to talk to her doctor into letting her leave the hospital yesterday. Since the day he father told her and the host club the real story behind her mother's death, the six boys tried their best to cheer her up, but Tamaki was forbidden to go near her. He complained and asked why he was not allowed while Hunny, who was also a blonde, was always sitting beside her.<p>

"It's because you call her daughter." Kyoya explained as he was typing away at his laptop. This sent Tamaki to his corner of woe and started to grow mushrooms while the twins teased him.

Haruhi felt two people staring at her. She looked at either side of her and saw the twins, intently staring at her as if she was a science experiment.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" she asked the two of them. Hikaru sat on the seat to her left while Kaoru sat on the seat to her right.

"You seem like your old self today, unlike when we were in the hospital." Hikaru said.

"Yeah. You were always spaced out and you always looked scared." Kaoru said.

Haruhi turned her attention back to her book and flipped it to the next page. "Maybe it's because of the hospital. The atmosphere there is different from here. I guess you could say I'm not used to going to hospitals so I was unable to focus and calm myself in the situation." She stopped her explaining when the teacher went in and started their lessons. The twins were still looking for any trace of fear in her face because their room had a few blonde males, but they didn't see any. They stopped worrying and started doodling on their notebooks, which they always do when they get bored.

The host club had more customers that day, courtesy of Haruhi. Her spot was filled with customers which were even more than Tamaki ever had.

"Haruhi-kun, how's your arm?"

"Does it hurt?"

"Where you scared?"

Haruhi was happy at their concern and smiled her natural smile at them. "It's just a burn. It still hurts a bit when I move too much but the doctor said it would heal in a week, but seeing you girls right here makes the pain gone as though it's already healed." Her customers squealed. Some fainted while others blushed.

Hunny excused himself from his customers and went to where Haruhi was. He sat down beside her and placed the plate of cake he brought with him on the table. He cut a portion of his strawberry cake and brought the fork near Haruhi's lips which earned them a few squeals from the girls watching. Even the other hosts' customers went to watch them. Haruhi looked at Hunny curiously, who only smiled at her as he brought the cake nearer her mouth. She opened it and ate the cake, slowly savoring its taste.

"Hunny-sempai never shares his cake." Kaoru said as he moved to sit beside Hikaru, who was slowly getting annoyed at the closeness Hunny has been giving Haruhi. Tamaki, seeing them together, felt a small pain in his heart. He clutched at his chest and looked at Kyoya, who was also looking at the scene.

"Ne, Kyoya? Do you think I need to go see a doctor? Just now, when I looked at them, I felt a pain in my chest."

"Don't worry. That's only natural." Kyoya said as he arranged his glasses. He didn't want to admit it, but he also felt what Tamaki felt when he looked at them.

Hunny was happy that Haruhi ate the cake he gave her. He smiled at her as he took a piece of the cake and ate it himself.

"INDIRECT KISS!" the girls shouted before they fainted. Since Hunny hadn't thought about that, he felt his cheeks grow hot.

"Gomen, Haru-chan. I forgot to use another spoon because I really wanted to taste the cake. It looked like you really liked it so I thought it would be really, really, really delicious!" he smiled. Haruhi, in return, smiled at him and wiped the icing that got on his cheek. Her face grew nearer his and he spotted a small spot of icing on her lip. He wiped it with his forefinger and stuck it into his mouth.

"KYAA!" the customers screamed.

"Hunny-sempai! Get away from my daughter!" Tamaki yelled as he charged towards Hunny. Mori immediately blocked his path which resulted to them colliding with one another. Because Tamaki was running at full speed and his feet got entwined with Mori's, they both fell down in an awkward position; Tamaki on top of Mori. The twins burst out laughing, making Hikaru forget his jealousy towards Hunny, while Hunny quickly went to Mori and got Tamaki off him. He saw a small scratch on his cousin's elbow. He took a plaster bandage from his pocket which was decorated with bunny designs and placed it on the scratch. He smiled at Mori.

"Takashi! Let's go eat more cake!" Hunny said before he went back to his usual place, followed by Mori.

Tamaki stood up and went to Haruhi, who was now busy talking with her customers. He stopped in front of her and held her hand.

"Daughter. Did the weird bunny lover hurt you?" he asked. The girls squealed again. Haruhi, on the other hand, was getting anxious as he kept on looking at you.

_Haruhi, my daughter._

Swiftly, Haruhi drew her hand back from Tamaki's grasp and moved away from him.

"Haruhi-kun, you look pale. Are you feeling ok?" one of her customers asked her.

Haruhi managed a smile and nodded. "I'll just get more tea for you, lovely ladies." The girls swooned as she stood up and went to the storage room, where the tea was kept. Unbeknownst to her, Tamaki followed her. He watched as she silently put the tea set on the tray, and got a few snacks for their customers. His stomach grumbled at the sight of the snacks which alerted Haruhi of his presence. He scratched the back of his head and went towards the nearest cake.

"I got hungry." He said. He took a knife and cut a small piece out of the cake before he began eating it. Haruhi's eyes grew big as she saw Tamaki with the knife.

_Haruhi, my daughter. Watch as I kill your mother before you._

Haruhi felt the tray on her hand slip and heard a loud smash. Her head began to hurt as her knees gave out, making her kneel on the floor laden with broken shards of tea cups. She felt a few of them dig into her knees but paid it no heed. She clutched at her head as her vision got blurry.

"Haruhi!" She looked up when she heard the hosts shout her name and the gasps from the girls who saw her. She tried fighting the dizziness but lost consciousness after she felt someone help her stand up.

Hunny was staring at the brunette's sleeping face. He had been so worried when he carried Haruhi to the infirmary. Unluckily, the nurse was on leave so they let Kyoya treat the wounds on her knees.

"It's Tono's fault." Hikaru said as he looked at the wounds on her knees.

"Yeah. We already told you not to go near her."

"Sheesh. And you even held a knife."

"He should start using his brain. He's a blonde who calls her 'daughter'."

"Then he grabs hold of a knife that was just like the one used by another blonde who calls Haruhi his daughter which may have made her remember a memory she was trying to forget." The twins said simultaneously which made Tamaki go to his corner of woe and start tearing random papers for a hamster's home which he doesn't even have. Kyoya gave Mori a big pile of used papers.

"Put this beside him so he wouldn't tear any important documents." He told the silent host, who obeyed. They quietly waited for Haruhi to wake up. After a few minutes of waiting, Hunny sensed something wrong with her. He saw beads of sweat form on her forehead as she clutched at the bed sheet.

"Kyo-chan, I think Haru-chan's having a nightmare." He said and they all heard her whimper in her sleep. Kyoya shook her awake. When she awoke, she quickly hugged the bespectacled host and cried on his shoulder. Kyoya didn't know what to do. This was the first time he was ever in this kind of situation.

Instead of getting jealous at the scene in front of him, Hikaru sniggered at Kyoya's dumbfounded expression, along with his twin. This was the first time they had ever seen him wear that kind of face. They saw him put his hand on Haruhi's shoulder and pat it. They couldn't help but laugh at the sight. Kyoya looked like a father trying to console his daughter after she got dumped.

"Hika-chan, Kao-chan, you shouldn't laugh. Making fun of other people is bad." Hunny said as he wagged his finger in front of their face. They instantly grew quiet, knowing that if they didn't obey, they would have to see Hunny's evil side.

Haruhi stopped crying and let go of Kyoya, who immediately stood up. "Since you're already awake, would it be ok for you to tell us the nightmare that you had which caused most of us to worry?" he said. "Oh. And I've added ¥20,000 to your debt because of the hug earlier."

Haruhi sighed. Typical Kyoya, she thought. She looked at every one of the hosts and saw their worried expressions. She didn't want them to get anymore troubled because of her. She also didn't want them to know of the incident that happened when she was still in middle school, but she has to give them some sort of explanation or something for her nightmare.

"It's just a normal nightmare. I just dreamt of a bad guy chasing after me." She told them. It wasn't exactly the truth, but it also wasn't a lie. She saw their tense expression calm down as they thought it just might be a normal nightmare.

"It has nothing to do with your fear of blondes?" Kaoru asked while Hikaru chuckled beside him as they looked at Tamaki, who has now abandoned the hamster home and managed to grow mushrooms instead.

"No. It has nothing to do with my mother's death." This statement made Tamaki look up at Haruhi with shining eyes. "But the bad guy chasing me was a blonde who was only about our age." However, this statement made Tamaki go back to what he was doing earlier. This caused the twins to laugh aloud and managed to make Haruhi smile a little.

They were beginning to remove the tense atmosphere from before when someone knocked on the infirmary door.

"Odd. I already told the teachers that we are to be excused because Haruhi fainted earlier." Kyoya said as he went to the door and opened it. A guy with blonde hair wearing the school uniform entered the room.

"I'm looking for someone named Fujioka Haruhi. The teacher said something happened earlier and she was sent here." He said as he scanned the room, looking for her.

Hearing the familiar voice, Haruhi slowly looked at the newcomer, and her brown eyes met with another pair of brown eyes. She moved farther away from him which was unnoticed by the other hosts except Hunny and Mori, who were the closest to her.

"Haru-chan? What's wrong?" Hunny asked. The only time he had ever seen her this petrified was when she recovered her memories from her mother's death. Could it be that the blonde standing in front of them had something to do with her mother's death? Hunny thought but quickly dismissed it. The guy was just about their age, probably the same as Haruhi, so it would be impossible for him to be one of Haruhi's mother's killers.

"You." Hunny heard Haruhi said as she continued to look at the boy. He could feel her body tense when the newcomer let out a laugh.

"You remember me. I thought you would forget." The boy said as he smiled at Haruhi. There is something wrong with that smile, Hunny thought.

"If I may ask, What's your name? And from what class are you?" Kyoya asked as he studied the person in front of him.

"I just transferred today. I'm Akira Kinomoto. Son of the 2nd famous doctor in Japan, Dr. Nara Kinomoto." He said as he reached out and shook Kyoya's hand. He let go immediately and turned his back on them. He was about to close the door but stopped and looked over at Haruhi. "I almost forgot. I'm in class 1-A. See you in class, Haruhi. Nice to finally meet you again, sweetheart." And with that, he closed the door, leaving inside 6 confused hosts and 1 scared girl.

"Who is he, Haruhi?" Kyoya asked the wide-eyed girl. She was still staring at the spot Akira was standing on just a while ago.

"Haruhi? Who is he?" he repeated. This time, he caught the brunette's attention. She looked straight at him.

"The bad guy." She said. They waited for her to explain but she just got her phone in her pocket. She skimmed through her the list of names on her phone and called a certain number. After a few rings, they heard someone pick up.

"Hello. Arai, this is Haruhi." They heard the quiver in her voice as she tried to stop her tears from falling, but failed. They could hear her middle school classmate happily greet her on the other line. When they heard him ask what's wrong, they waited quietly for her answer.

"He's come after me."


	3. Chapter 3

The hosts saw Arai waiting for Haruhi outside the gate after their classes. Since Haruhi left the infirmary, they had followed her around, waiting for her to explain her strange behavior towards her new classmate, but classes have ended and she had not uttered anything to them. They were quite shocked when Haruhi ran to Arai and hugged him as he rubbed her back to calm her. They heard sniffles and not long after, they saw her shoulders shake.

She quietly cried on Arai's shoulder. She didn't care if other students saw her, she just wanted to let the feelings she bottled up for the whole day loose. Seeing Akira had brought back memories she tried to forget as much as her mother's death. The only person who knew what these memories are is Arai.

Hikaru looked away from the scene as he clenched his fist tight. This was the same emotion he felt when they first met Arai in the pension. He felt a hand hold his and saw that Kaoru was trying to calm him down.

"I think she has a problem with that Akira guy that only Arai knows." Kaoru explained.

"Why won't she tell us? It's not like we won't understand her." Hikaru countered as he secretly scoffed at their subject.

"I don't know. Let's just wait for her to open up to us, ne?" They stopped talking when they saw the others gather near the two people they were talking about and followed.

Arai looked stricken. That's what Hunny noticed when they heard Haruhi say Akira's name. The worried look Arai sent the girl also didn't go unnoticed by the small blonde. This must be serious, he thought.

"Haruhi, did you already tell them the reason why you're scared of Kinomoto?" Arai asked the girl in front of him, who shook her head. He sighed. Even if most people think that Haruhi was a person who didn't think if her words were already hurting someone else, they were wrong. He knew that she always thought about others feelings more than hers, and the incident when they were in middle school was a proof.

"Haruhi, I know you don't want them to worry. But they have to know the reason. Some people get even more worried when they don't know what's happening to a person they treasure, and your host club friends are this kind of people. I know you don't want to tell anyone about this. Had I not been there, I would have never known because you wouldn't have told me. But sometimes, telling other people your problems will make you feel better." He lectured the girl. Haruhi stared at the boy, before she nodded. She put her head on his chest and clutched at his shirt.

"I-I can't tell them. You can, if you want." She muttered.

Arai looked at the other hosts who were waiting for him to explain. He looked at Haruhi before he began his story.

"When Haruhi and I were in middle school, we were best friends. She was withdrawn from others, so it was like we have a world only for the two of us. But one day, we had a new classmate. His name was Akira Kinomoto. Many girls admired him for his looks, but Haruhi, being the withdrawn person that she is, didn't. This made Haruhi interesting to him. He began befriending the two of us, and for the first time, Haruhi let someone into our little world. I was so happy then. I considered Kinomoto as one of my best friends and the three of us were always together. I thought he understood Haruhi, but soon realized he didn't.

"It was a normal day that day. We were busy eating lunch when I got a call from my dad. He said that a lot of the people helping in our shop were on leave so I had to go back to our store to help. I went home early and told Kinomoto to walk Haruhi to their apartment after school. Something bothered me with the way he smiled at Haruhi when I left.

"It was already night time when I finished helping out in the store. The weird feeling I felt since I left Haruhi with Kinomoto was still there so I went to Haruhi's apartment to check on her. I knocked a couple of times but no one answered the door. I thought it was strange. Haruhi should be home by then. I felt a few drops of water on my head and saw that it was rain. I remembered that there was going to be a thunderstorm that night and thought that that might be the reason why I was feeling jittery. Kinomoto didn't know that Haruhi was scared of thunder. The only reason I know was because I noticed that every time there was a thunderstorm, she would always excuse herself and go to the bathroom. I followed her one day and saw her under the sink, crying as she whimpered with every sound of the thunder.

"When I reached the school, I saw that the lights in our classroom were still open. I thought that maybe Kinomoto asked Haruhi to help with his homework. I went inside and felt chills run down my spine. I saw a few drops of blood in the hallway. I followed it and it led to our classroom where I saw the two of them." Arai stopped his story when he felt Haruhi shudder at the memory. He could feel the others looking at him, waiting for him to continue. He looked at the girl in his arms and saw her give a small nod. He looked up and continued with the story.

"Haruhi had a stab wound on her shoulder. It was bleeding badly. I saw Kinomoto hold her down, pinning her injured shoulder on the floor. I couldn't move. He was holding a knife on his other hand. I saw him…I saw him kiss Haruhi on the neck and heard her whimper. She was begging for him to stop. Begging!" He couldn't control the anger in his voice as he remembered what happened that night. He was shaking and tears of anger ran down his face. The others were silent as they watched him.

"I couldn't move. I just looked at him as he roamed his hands over her whole body. She was already crying but I still couldn't move. My friend was hurting my best friend. It was only when he pulled her skirt up and stabbed her thigh did I manage to move from my spot and push him away from her. He let go of the knife and lost consciousness. I was about to call the police but Haruhi stopped me." He looked at Haruhi.

"Why'd you stop him? If you hadn't, that son of a b***h would now be in jail!" Hikaru shouted at Haruhi. Kaoru restrained his twin as Haruhi shot them a death glare.

"It's because I don't want dad to worry!" she shouted at the restrained twin, surprising all of them. "I don't want dad to worry." She said in a lower voice. "If we had called the police, dad would be alerted and he would know what happened."

They were all staring at her. Arai hugged Haruhi tighter. "I should have just called the police and told them he attacked me with a knife. Even that would have made them throw him in jail. I should have done something." He said. Tears were still flowing down his cheeks while he kept blaming himself. Haruhi stepped away from him once he calmed down.

"It's not your fault. I'm glad you were there to save me." She said as she gave him a smile.

A white car stopped in front of them. Haruhi looked at the other hosts to see who owns the car but saw them wearing the same curious expression, except Kyoya. She looked back at the car and saw the window slide down, revealing Akira's smiling face. Aria immediately hid Haruhi behind his back and glared at him.

"What are you doing here?" he snarled at the smiling person in front of him.

"Is that how you greet a friend you haven't seen in a long time?" Akira looked at the faces of the hosts. They wore similar expressions ranging from disgust to anger. "I see. You've already told them of the fun Haruhi and I had when we were classmates." He said looking amused as Arai lunged at him but was held back by the petite girl behind him.

"I stopped being your friend when you hurt Haruhi! And she most definitely did not have fun with what you did to her!"

"Oh, but she did." He said as he looked over the girl. "Right, Haruhi? You were moaning my name and telling me to continue as I touched different parts of your body." He closed his eyes and imagined the girl's face on that particular night. "Too bad Arai disrupted us. Had he not, we would have had more fu-"

SLAP!

Akira's eyes opened at the intensity of the slap. He touched his reddened cheek and looked at the eyes of Haruhi which burned with anger.

"I was telling you to stop, you bastard! Are you really that dumb that you can't even distinguish the difference between 'Please stop!' and 'Please continue.'? No wonder your mother left you." She said. She knew that she touched a sensitive subject when she saw pain momentarily flash in the boy's eyes. His mother had left him with his father on the day he was born and went with another man, and Haruhi was one of the two people who he told.

"I'm happy you haven't forgotten the secrets I told you before. But I would have been happier had you not revealed it openly to your new group of friends." He smiled at her apologetically. "I have to go. My father wants to talk to me and ordered me to go home right away. I just had to stop over and see my two best friends from middle school." He started rolling the window up but stopped when it only showed his eyes. "Oh and Haruhi, I suggest you answer that call. And don't forget to tell your dad I said 'Get well soon.'" He said before his car drove away.

Haruhi took out her cell phone from her jacket pocket and saw that she already had 4 missed calls from her dad. She didn't notice it vibrate when she was talking to Akira earlier. Just when she was about to check her missed calls, the phone began vibrating and she answered the call.

"Dad? What's wrong? Did you get lost on the way to our new apartment? Again?" she asked exasperatedly.

"Miss Fujioka? This is Dr. Lee from Kyoto National Hospital. Your dad is currently in surgery. I suggest you go here immediately. I will tell you the details once you arrive." The caller said before he hung up. Haruhi looked at the 7 boys.

Hunny noticed that Haruhi looked paler after the phone call. He skipped towards the girl and looked up at her. "Are you ok, Haru-chan?" The girl in front of him shook her head and looked straight at Kyoya.

"Kyoya-sempai, I think I might not go to school tomorrow."

"And why is that?" Kyoya said as he looked at the girl calculatingly.

"I have to go to the hospital. My…My dad is currently in surgery." This alerted the other boys and they immediately offered to drive her to the hospital her father was currently in. In the end, Haruhi chose the twins, but the others came along with them.

"Ne, you all have your own cars, except for Arai. So why did you have to ride with us?" Hikaru asked, annoyed.

"It would have wasted more time so we just decided to ride with you as well." Tamaki said. "We could not let poor Haruhi waste any more time she needs to spend in caring for her hospitalized father." He said overdramatically.

The others sweat dropped and didn't take any more notice of him, which drove him to his corner of woe.

"Do not grow mushrooms in other people's cars!" Kaoru shouted at their idiotic friend. This commotion lasted until they reached the hospital.

Mori was looking at the girl who was sitting in front of him. He knew that this week must have been hard for her. Remembering her mother's death who was murdered in front of her, meeting with an old friend who tried to rape her, and now her father is in a surgery. He knew that the girl was strong. Had he been in her situation, he may be unable to stop himself from breaking down. He snapped out of his thoughts when he felt the car pull over in front of the hospital.

Haruhi immediately got out the car and ran towards the operating room. The doctor was waiting outside the door and looked at her as she arrived.

"Are you Haruhi Fujioka?" the doctor asked.

"Yes. What happened to my dad?" by the time she asked, the boys had already reached them. The doctor looked at the people behind her before he looked at her questioningly. Kyoya walked towards the doctor and saw that his expression changed at the sight of an Ohtori.

"It would be ok for you to disclose information with us around. We are close friends of Ms. Fujioka, as well as her father." He said. The doctor gulped and immediately looked over at his clipboard.

"Mr. Fujioka was seen beside an Okama bar by his fellow Okama and immediately called for an ambulance. He got shot on his chest, but luckily, the bullet didn't graze any serious organs. It seems he was beaten up by his pursuers, causing three broken ribs, a sprained left arm and a fractured leg. He would need to stay in the hospital for a month, and another 2 weeks at home." The doctor told them. He took out a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it over to a pale Haruhi.

"This was pinned in his left hand and was addressed to you. Do you have anymore questions you would like to ask?"

Kyoya arranged his glasses on his nose bridge and looked at the doctor. "I would request for you to transfer Ranka-san to the Ohtori Private Hospital after his surgery."

The doctor nodded. "Alright. If that is all, I'll be taking my leave then." And with that, he went towards the nearest nurse and walked away with her.

Haruhi was sitting on the chair near the emergency room. All the boys were looking at her with worry, but her mind was elsewhere. She was busy thinking of the words told her before.

_And don't forget to tell your dad I said 'Get well soon'._

"How did he know my dad's in the hospital? Is he responsible for what happened to dad?" she asked herself in a whisper as she looked at the door of the emergency room.


	4. Chapter 4

Kyoya was looking at Haruhi as she sat on the chair nearest to the emergency room. He knew something was bothering her, seeing her knitted eyebrows as she was deep in thought. And judging from the deep frown on her face, he knew that this was something serious.

Haruhi pondered whether she should tell her fellow hosts and Arai what Akira had said earlier or not. Knowing them, the twins would surely get mad and try to persuade Kyoya into giving them Akira's address so they can probably confront him and Hunny would emit an evil aura as he says that hurting his friends is a no-no while Mori would give his cousin cake to bring back his cheerful side. Kyoya would probably type something in his laptop before he will look directly at her and smile his scary smile as he tell her that he will help her with the problem but along with that help, she knew there was an addition to her debt. Tamaki, being an overdramatic person, would probably run around and say that his lovely daughter should not be bullied and that he will do his best to save her father and her from the evil transfer student, not forgetting to view it in his inner mind theater. Arai would get as angry as the twins, but he would cool down after a few minutes and try to help her think about the situation. She stopped on her musing when she felt the other people's stares at her and looked at them.

"Are you ok, Haru-chan?" Hunny asked worriedly. He had tried calling her a few times already but she just continued looking at the ER door. He couldn't help himself but be worried about the petite girl in front of him. He knew the others shared the same worry he felt, especially when she continued spacing out after he had called her.

"I'm fine." Haruhi answered before she tried to flash him a normal smile, but failed. Her lips were trembling as she felt the sudden weight of the situation. Why did problems have to come one after another? And these problems were too much for a teenager like her.

Seeing Haruhi's lips tremble, Hunny went to her, surprising her as he pulled her into a hug. She stiffened in his arms but soon relaxed as he felt her hug him back. "We'll always be here for you." He told her as he felt her shake in his arms, telling him that she was crying.

"Yeah.-"

"No matter what,-"

"we'll always-"

"be here." The twins said consecutively.

"Daddy would never abandon his precious daughter!" Tamaki said as he posed dramatically with a background of red roses and petals falling.

"Hn." Mori said as he stared as his cousin and the crying girl. Seeing her in this state, he vowed in that very same moment that he will do everything in his will for her not to feel this way ever again. He would protect her, like the way he protects Mitsukuni.

"I suppose so. And as help to you, I will only add ¥10,000 to your debt every time I do you a favor." Kyoya said before he smiled at her.

"Mother! That is not the proper way to treat our daughter!" Tamaki argued.

As the two of them bickered, well, Tamaki was yelling but Kyoya kept calm, Hunny focused on the girl in his arms who had stopped crying. He heard her mumble something but her voice was too low that he can't hear it. "Can you say it again, Haru-chan?"

After hearing what his fellow hosts said, Haruhi thought that they deserved to know what Akira told her earlier. "He told me to tell father 'Get well soon' earlier." She told the small blonde, who looked confused at first, but when he understood what she meant, he growled Akira's name which caught the other's attention.

"He must be behind this then." Hunny said. He looked at the bewildered hosts and told them what Haruhi had told him earlier. The response was what Haruhi had expected, but it seems she had been wrong in Tamaki's part. The tall blonde was crying dramatically as he stood up and posed, his eyes filled with determination.

"I will ban him from the Host Club!" He said triumphantly. Thinking that Haruhi will like this idea, he immediately viewed the scene in his inner mind theater.

**Tamaki's Inner Mind Theater:**

**Tamaki: I will ban him from the Host Club!**

**Haruhi: Oh, Tamaki! You always think of the brightest ideas!**

**Tamaki: For you, I will do everything, my dear Haruhi.**

**Haruhi: I've overcome my fear of blondes because of you. Thank you. *hugs Tamaki***

**Tamaki: *hugs back* I will protect you.**

**Haruhi: *looks at Tamaki with tears in her eyes* Tamaki…**

**Tamaki: Haruhi…*leans closer Haruhi***

**Haruhi: *closes eyes***

**Tamaki: *almost kisses Haruhi***

"Oi, Tono! You were thinking of perverted thoughts about Haruhi, aren't you?" Kaoru said as he smiled mischievously at Tamaki.

"No wonder Haruhi is afraid of blondes." Hikaru said as he looked at Tamaki's horrified face.

"Hey! Haru-chan's not afraid of me!" Hunny said as he hugged Haruhi tighter and pouted.

"B-b-but, Haruhi told me my ideas are the brightest!"

"That is one of the stupidest idea I had ever heard." Haruhi said as she pried Hunny away from her before he suffocates her.

"She's right, Tamaki." Kyoya said as he continued typing in his laptop. "He would rather wait for Haruhi than let others think that he's a homosexual when he designates her as his host. He has too much pride, judging by the way he didn't try anything with her when they were in a crowd."

This made Tamaki go to his corner of woe for the 3rd time this day as he grew more mushrooms. Unfortunately, the corner he went to was near the ER so when the door opened, it immediately hit him. The scene made the twins snicker, but the serious look on the doctor's face made them grow quiet.

"Miss Fujioka, it seems that your father had lost a significant amount of blood due to his chest wound. We had successfully taken out the bullet from the wound, but I am sorry to say that it will take more than one and a half months for him to recover." The doctor told Haruhi.

"Why? Is there something wrong?" She asked. She didn't want to hear his next words, but she needed to. She needed to be strong for her father.

Seeing the expectant look from the girl, the doctor thought whether he should tell her what state her father is in. He knew this must be hard for her, but he thought that she must know the truth.

After a long silence, the doctor finally told them.

The news shocked Haruhi that she lost her balance and almost fell on the ground, had someone not supported her. She was too shocked to cry. The only thing she did was rest her head on her supporter's chest and drifted to sleep, to momentarily forget about her problems.

Arai looked at the sleeping girl in his arms. He knew she was strong, but with three big problems that had been given to her; he didn't know how long she'll be able to stand up on her own. He was willing to help her if she needed him, and he was sure that the other hosts would also do the same. He carefully lifted her and looked at the hosts. "Would it be ok if I bring her to her apartment?"

"Do you know her new apartment?" Kyoya asked.

"Why? Did they move?"

The hosts told him of what happened and he could not help but feel sad for his middle school best friend. Who knew that this fragile girl he was now holding was carrying 4 heavy burdens?

"Our house is the nearest here. If Haru-chan needs to rest, she can stay there for a while so when she wakes up, we can go here faster." Hunny said. He knew this was the only thing he could do for Haruhi now, but he was still glad he was able to do something for her.

Arai nodded. He left the hospital with the twins, Hunny, Mori and Tamaki while he carried Haruhi. Kyoya stayed in the hospital to manage Ranka's transfer to his family's hospital.

Haruhi woke with a start; she dreamt of the night her mother was killed in front of her. She calmed herself down before she looked at her surroundings. The first thing she noticed was that she wasn't in her room. Whoever room this was, she was sure this belonged to a boy because of the guy smell. The second thing she noticed was how dark it was. The only light in the room was from the small nightlight beside the bed. She stood up from the bed and felt something drop on the floor. She picked it up and couldn't hide the smile on her face as she hugged Usa-chan, before she went out of the room to find its owner.

Hunny was sitting on the couch when he heard the guest room door open. Immediately, he stood up and went towards the girl. "Good evening, Haru-chan! Are you hungry? Do you want to eat dinner? Takashi's cooking for us! Oh, and Arai is with him in the kitchen. He's probably helping with dinner. Let's go!" He said before he dragged the girl to the kitchen.

Haruhi looked at her hand that was being held by Hunny. His hand was warm and soft, she thought. A warm feeling swept through her as she looked at the blonde dragging her. She hadn't noticed that he had grown and now he was as tall as her, but even when he had grown, he still looked cute. They had reached the kitchen and the sight they saw wasn't what they expected.

"Takashi! What happened?" Hunny ran to his cousin, who was sitting in a pool of chocolate and strawberry syrup. He didn't know whether he should laugh at his cousin or be worried. He looked at Arai, who was covered in flour from head to foot and was laughing.

"Well, we tried to bake a cake, but it was a disaster. Mori-san accidentally tripped on the strawberry syrup bottle and the flour he just sifted got dumped on my head. Unfortunately, I couldn't see where I was going so I didn't know that I had already spilled the chocolate and strawberry syrup, with which he slipped on once again." Arai explained when he finished laughing.

After a few seconds of silence, Haruhi and Hunny burst out laughing. The brunette was hugging Usa-chan tightly as Hunny clutched his stomach for laughing too much. This commotion caused the rest of the hosts, who were waiting in the room that was opposite the room Haruhi was in, to come running to the scene. The twins immediately laughed at the two while Kyoya suppressed a small smile that almost graced his face. This wasn't unnoticed Haruhi, who had stopped laughing and was now helping Arai clean the mess up.

Unlike the other hosts, Tamaki's face was contorted in horror. He pointed his finger at Mori, who was still sitting in the pool of mixed syrup.

"How dare you make my sweet daughter Haruhi clean up your mess? And waste food in front of her! This is UNACCEPTABLE!" Tamaki said as his eyes burned with fury. The rest of the hosts glanced at him for a while before they continued what they were doing as if he never spoke to them. This caused him to go to his corner of woe and start growing mushrooms.

The rest of the night was that of a normal host club night where the Twins annoy Tamaki as he tries to protect his 'Daughter' from them, Kyoya typing who-knows-what in the laptop he always carries, Arai watching the hosts in amusement, Mori standing near Hunny, and Hunny, well, nobody noticed that he was already asleep. This night might not be too normal if they wake him from his slumber.

"AHH! You horrid twins! Give me back my Kuma-chan!" Tamaki screeched as he ran after Hikaru and Kaoru. The two hid his bear somewhere inside the Haninozuka household and no matter how much he tried to search for it, he can't find it, which leads us back to the current situation.

"You have to"

"find it yourself"

"cause we"

"won't give"

"it back"

"_to you."_

The twins said simultaneously. They were looking at Tamaki, who was chasing them from behind, that they didn't notice the small figure who was sleeping soundly on the floor. All three of them tripped on the said figure. Unluckily, Tamaki, the last one to trip, had accidentally stepped on the small plush toy the loli-shota boy was hugging, leaving a shoe print on the bunny.

The room was silent as the three tried walking - I mean crawling - away from the figure. That was before they felt the hairs at the back of their necks stand up, and a dark shadow loomed over them. They looked up to see the pair of eyes that contained anger, and all three of them were rooted to their spots in fear, and surprise.


End file.
